Linus

Nope. Once designated you are gone.

If I’m Jeffers I’m not signing any extension unless it’s an overpay. He will be a free agent at 29 in a league where catching is always scarce. He would likely be in line for a good payday. Of course this is all the more reason to try for a 4-5 year extension.

Julien had a good couple of months his rookie year when the league had never seen him and his babip was 373. Last year he was really bad for the entire year. I know which results I’m going to put stock in.

Wouldn’t some information about his catching ability be appropriate for an article like this?

A bit confusing to me. Julien shouldn’t be on there and Raya is ahead of SWR? For a guy that hasn’t done that much Raya gets a lot of love from this site.

I’m not big on Gonzalez at all. Another player who has no defensive future at all and doesn’t run well. Basically he’s a DH if he really hits and adds some power - if he doesn’t hit at a high level he literally has nothing to offer I seem to write that a lot about Twins player and prospects. I’m not a Falvey hater but this philosophy of making the hit tool the only thing they pay attention to drives me nuts. It’s no mystery why our big league club is poor in the field and on the bases

Royce should not play first You don’t push players down the defensive spectrum unless you have to and first is rock bottom. He was the number one overall pick so clearly he has the athleticism to play somewhere other than first. Plus there is no evidence that playing first will keep him healthier - third base is probably way safer than first with all the awkward collisions that take place at first base. He can be a good fielder at third or second or left field. The Twins need to figure it out and let him play there and he will get good.

Martin is a great illustration of why defense matters. If he was a legit back up CF or fielding whiz second baseman you could live with the limited bat. He can’t do those things so in order to be useful in LF for example he has to hit way more than he’s shown. Could he improve on both sides enough to bridge the gap? I hope so as he is the style of player the Twins could use. Am I betting my pension on it? Nope. The Twins seem to have a lot of players like this. Hmmmmm wonder why their fielding is subpar.

I think it’s even simpler than the author is making it. We have a solid club - good rotation, bullpen with potential and a lineup that should be coming into its prime. Whether we are successful next year is going to be largely dependent on Larnach Lewis Wallner Jeffers and Miranda take the next step. If most of them do we are a playoff team. If most of them don’t we will need to make serious changes. If we want to add someone or shake things up trade for an actual good player. For example a youngish right handed hitting outfielder that doesn’t need to be platooned. No more washed up vets for $6 million. As long as I’m offering up my plan I would hang on to Paddack. He could be important depth when we have injuries to our starters. I’m keeping Castro for sure. He is the perfect insurance policy for this injury prone team. I would try to trade Vasquez but it probably wouldn’t work as there just isn’t enough savings there to mess with it. There you have it - the most boring off season ever but the right one.

I think most people over estimate the importance of a manager and under estimate the importance of the FO ability to construct a roster.

I think platooning is being utilized two different ways here. The first is the starting lineup. If we were facing a lefty and they elected to start Margot et al I say OK and yank him when the righty reliever comes in. The second is the mid game platoon switch. So we were facing a righty but a lefty reliever gets brought in the fifth inning and voila Wallner Larnach are pinch hit for by Margot. Margot now finishes the game against righty relievers. its the second practice that is harmful. As RB points out this is how a bad hitter like Margot racks up a ton of at bats against righty handed pitching. Either you have to quit making the mid game switch or you need to trade for an outfielder that doesn’t have horrible platoon splits and let Miranda play first. If they did this very few platoon switches would be needed.

This. Anybody that thinks this is all Rocco’s idea is mistaken. Falvey is being disingenuous when he says things like that because the analytics department creates volumes of information for Rocco suggesting the best matchups lineups etc. Sure Rocco makes out the lineup and makes the in game decisions but if he wasn’t doing what the FO he wouldn’t be around.

There have been a lot of half baked proposals floated at Twins Daily and this might take the cake. If Falvey made this trade he should be immediately fired. From a value standpoint you don’t trade great talent for two mediocre prospects. From a roster building standpoint why would you hamstring your bullpen right when it finally has a chance to be good? Anybody remember last year when our incredibly deep bullpen was going to be the best in the league? With our current FO any catcher is going to be a half time player. You don’t burn valuable assets for half time players. Lastly I think it is a tragedy that as Twins fans we’ve been conditioned to think that the only way to make additions to our club is by trading away our best players. How low have we sunk?

If this had been written after the 23 season people’s expectations for Julien would have been more realistic (373 babip).

This is a strange move and I don’t even think Morán is a good pitcher. Giving this guy even a 40 man spot is strange much less count on him for anything but org depth.

Great topic. I love the big picture discussions. As far as attendance goes I think they have a big problem as nationwide it seems young people aren’t as interested in baseball. Being on TV combined with a quick start could jump start attendance some. I would let kids attend certain lower demand games in to the upper deck for free. I think the Twins can be a good team as is and in fact would suggest they almost have to. Lewis Larnach Wallner Miranda Jeffers and Julien are at make or break points in their careers. If most come through the Twins are a playoff team. If they don’t big changes will need to be made going forward. I am not anticipating much help from the minor league system nor should we need it. Again the core has to come through not counting on prospects. Em Rod will likely see time as first option for an outfielder injury. I would be open to trading prospects and / or Larnach for a right handed outfielder that doesn’t need to be platooned and can play defense but that’s all I need this off season. I’m pretty content with the pitching and would likely hang onto Paddack. I simply would pick up my office phone and tell Joe P he isn’t getting that $7.5 million so quit crying. Having him forndepth could be critical even though he’s pretty mediocre. I don’t like our left handed relievers but with the three batter minimum I don’t view handedness as a deal breaker anymore although a good lefty that can get righties out would be nice as I could go the rest of my life without watching Funderburk throw his slop all over the place. I know this off season is painfully boring for most of us but I think the Twins can be a good team. I am looking forward to finding out who is part of the solution.

I would also say yes. Who knows how Detroit values Torkelson but my guess is Paddack isn’t enough. I do think Paddack could bring back a b level prospect.

I think people are overestimating the impact of the potential sale on the Twins moves or lack thereof. The Twins have to continue with business as usual because the sale may never happen or it might take a really long time to complete. The obvious answer is this is who the Twins are at this point. They are going to run with a lower payroll for as long as they own the team. Not because they are trying to entice buyers rather this is the payroll ballpark they are going to work within. Lastly anyone that is going to buy the team for 1.5 billion doesn’t care if you sign a new outfielder for 3 years and $45 million. It’s a rounding error for those people.

Yea I wasn’t making the suggestion with payroll in mind. If they made a trade like this and let Miranda play first we could largely forget all the platoon stuff. I am hoping they will be allowing the current payroll. I would be happy enough if that was our off season

One I hope they would consider is to use prospects and / or Larnach to trade for a cost controlled right handed hitting outfielder that doesn’t need to be platooned and can catch a batted ball. Don’t know if this player exists.

I think you have a good idea here. Particularly because most of these articles are almost all about hitting with limited information about the other tools which is really important when trying to project their future. And a little more realism and less homerism would improve the quality of the articles.

I don’t find them that entertaining because it’s like people are playing mlb the show. I am going to make these 6 interconnected trade and sign this free agent for less than market value and we will be under budget and win the World Series.

Good point. Not every team has the financial means to take on the contract and how many of them need a SS? Good thought exercise in a boring off season. Thankfully it ain’t happening.

I actually think that there would be some teams that would take on Correas contract. They would not give up anything else however so it would be a pure salary dump. At that point we would have to acquire another SS for half the money and watch the other get pocketed - no thanks. Oh and then there is the inconvenient fact that he is our best player…..and that we don’t have anyone to take his place. To throw a little snark into it I don’t understand the posters that worry about saving the Pohlads money.

If that is correct then this is a real head scratcher.